Technical Field
This disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus incorporating an information detector.
Related Art
In known image forming processes, to achieve higher printing quality, an image forming apparatus automatically discriminates types of recording media and sets image forming conditions according to the detected types of recording media.
An example of an image forming apparatus shows a configuration in which an information detecting sensor is disposed inside the image forming apparatus to detect information of a recording medium being conveyed in a sheet conveying path.
This image forming apparatus includes an optical sensor that functions as an information detector to detect information on a recording medium optically. The optical sensor has a light emitting element and a light receiving element therein. The light emitting element of the information detector emits light to a surface of a recording medium. Among the light emitted by the light emitting element, the light reflected on the surface of the recording medium is received by a reflection light receiving element, so that the information detector can detect information on the features of a recording medium to specify the type of the recording medium based on optical information including a light amount of the received light. Based on the information on the features of the recording medium thus detected by the information detector, a controller distinguishes the type of recording medium such as a plain paper and a coated paper using a reference table such as a lookup table so as to set image forming conditions according to the type of the recording medium.